Robert Smith...I will forever have an empty "Smitty" shaped hole within my heart. Losing someone so special is unimaginable....so I pushed away the urge to worry and lived in a fantasy world where Smitty would survive his rapidly declining health and would live forever. Barely 15 years of age, now that was 40 years ago, I met my forever brother by another mother "Smitty". After a "traumatizing" move to a new house across town, for every ounce of change traumatizes a 9th grader, I noticed a house, particularly busy, bustling with beautiful boisterous boys just a few houses down the street. I interrogated all my "new" friends, from my new high school, relentlessly...because when asked on any particular day, "relentless" could be one of those "one word descriptions" that I would choose to describe myself. At last, I discovered someone who knew him only to find out later, that I had met him before through this particular friend, a Jr. Varsity Cheerleader on my new squad. We had been friends at Aquatic Club (one of the olympic sized private membership pools) for years. So there it was set up...to meet the clan of new guys down the street. Deborah Lewis (Debbo) Deonigi agreed to introduce me to the wild bunch and Smitty immediately took me under his wing. He told me who I could date, and who I couldn't. He accompanied us places and often watched our back and was always there and we felt safe.
One of his favorite stories was the surprise 18th birthday party I threw for him. He spoke of it again the last time I ever saw him. What a bright and shining star lights up our skies...for I forever hold his image in my eyes!
No comments:
Post a Comment